"Is God Really Dead?"
- By Jim Culp
Over the last ten or so years, I have been involved in
several discussion groups, many group conversations, and several outright
debates on the subject of the existence of God.
Amid the confusion and anger that this subject typically generates,
there is a "light in the darkness."
That light is called the truth, or reality. And that
reality is that if you believe in God, or the hundreds of synonyms for that
title, you do so with hope or faith, not with proof or scientific explanation. Allow
me to explain how I cane to being able
to be comfortable with that last statement.
I was raised in a Christian home. That is, a home where
Christian beliefs were
honored, shared, and oftentimes practiced.Our "brand" of Christianity was a protestant derivative called "Baptist", a movement started in 1609 in Amsterdam, where believers rejected Catholic practices and started their own thing. Our churches took it a step further, and identified themselves as "Fundamental Baptists", preferring and attempting to follow the teachings of Jesus straight from the New Testament and not from directives by the Baptist churches social conventions that were commanding the doctrines of the day.
Throughout my childhood and teenage life I was drug to church three times (yes, three times) per week, sometimes placed in church-schools, and taught to honor the Word of God always, no matter what.
In January of 1985, I dropped out of high school and joined
the U.S. Army.
I stayed a faithful Christian, and prayed daily to an
unseen God that never answered back, but I remained a faithful believer.Over the next 17 years, I served in the regular Army, the Kansas National Guard, and the Army Reserves. In 2000, I began a path of personal and private research of world religions, politics, and the common practices of churches and their financial dealings.
As for the military, I was a professional soldier,
Non-Commissioned Officer, and Instructor who cared very much about what I was
doing. The military gave me vast experience in 17 countries, hundreds of
cultures, and an understanding that would serve me to this day. What the
military unknowing armed me with was an good overall picture of the Earth's
religions, their practices, and an inherent understand of how religion plays
such an important part in people's lives.
Everyone is affected by religion...whether one is
religious or not. You cant go to Europe without feeling the influence of the Catholic Church; and you cant go to any southern part of the United States and not feel the influence of protestant Christianity.
In 2001, the people of the United States of America and
many nations of this Earth were grossly deceived when an act of Imperialism was
committed by agencies of our Federal Government, and two planes were crashed
into World Trade Center towers One and Two. Life as we know it would change
forever.
The Muslim world and the faith of Islam were blamed for
this outrage, and the armies of the Christian God started attacking the
"terrorists" of the world, and a Jihad (Holy War) that will last for
many years to come began.My reserve unit was mobilized for deployment to Iraq in February of 2003.
Life AS I KNEW IT was over. The next two years would change me forever.
But that's another story.
In late 2004, I adopted a belief system consistent with facts and knowledge of truth; nothing else. Again, I continued on a path of personal and private research of world religions, politics, and the common practices of churches and their financial dealings.
I went to a very private place and talked to God. I told him that if he would show me something, I'd be his greatest prophet. Still haven't heard anything from God; that was 11 years ago.
I resigned my Christian beliefs, adopted semi-pagan beliefs, and shed the prison of region from my heart and soul forever.
That all being said, I've been called an atheist and an agnostic.
I am neither.
An atheist is defined as "a
person who denies or disbelieves
the
existence
of
a
supreme
being or beings."
That's not me. I don't deny the existence of a
"supreme being or beings."I deny the concepts that a god, or gods, exist in the fashion that Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and hundreds others suggest. I lived over 35 years under the cloak of that fantasy, and I just don't buy it anymore.
An agnostic
is defined as "a person who holds that the existence of the
ultimate cause, as God, and the essential nature of things are unknown and
unknowable, or that human knowledge is limited to experience."
Close, but still no cigar.I believe that every single thing in this universe is composed of energy. Somewhere, out there or over there, wherever the hell that is, there is an energy source. Ancient Druids called it "the Source". I believe that sentient (that's you and me, by the way, and allot of animals) beings are one type of energy and non-sentient (everything else) are another.
The sentient beings have life spirits. Now, you can call that a soul, a chakra, a chi, or the Rolling Stones if you want. But that particular energy comes from a very specific part of the Source. All the rest comes from the rest of the Source.
Simple? Maybe. But the Source is my definition of
"God".
Some modern scientists have suggested that God is dead. He
once existed, but he's gone now and we'll have to fumble about and get along
ourselves.
The Jewish are still waiting for Jesus to come, and
Christians are still waiting for him to return. Of course none of the 64 brands
of Christianity that I have researched agree on anything, much less when Jesus
is coming back, and what he'll do when he gets here.
Islam (Muslims) are still very faithful to God (Allah),
but have a real hard time agreeing on how to do that peacefully.
Hindus and Buddhists are still chilling out and playing
it cool.
So I guess you'll judge for yourself.
As Ozzy said on the 13 album, "I don't believe that
God is dead."
Me either Ozzy. 